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Allergic Reaction at Prom
Location: Memphis, Tennessee Date: April 23, 1994 Story On the night of April 23, 1994 in Memphis, Tennessee, Paula Malone and her husband, Ken, were doing all they could to make sure their seventeen-year-old daughter, Amanda, would have a memorable and safe junior prom, but there was one danger they never even thought to worry about. "That day was just dress-up all together. She went to the beauty salon and got her hair and nails done," said Paula. Amanda's younger sister, sixteen-year-old Vicki, went to the same high school. "Before the prom, she said, 'I want to go, but I don't have a date.' And then one day, she came home and said, 'I'm gonna ask Nick. You know he's really nice. He's not like all the other guys.' Usually the guy asks the girl, but he was too young to go to the prom. So she had to ask him," said Vicki. Around 7pm, sixteen-year-old Nick King came to pick up Amanda. "She had her dress on and she was ready to go," said Nick. Her parents warned him about taking her out on a date, not to drink or do drugs, and be careful while driving. "Treat her like a lady and if you touch her I'll kill you," laughed Paula. At the prom, Amanda met up with her best friend, Crystal Burros. "We decided to get our pictures taken first. It was our first prom. The theme was "Anything For Love". We all went out on the dance floor and started dancing and it was just the girls because our boyfriends don't want to dance," said Crystal. During the slow dance, everyone was waiting all afternoon to hear "Don't Take the Girl" by Tim McGraw. Erin Umpierezz was also dancing with Amanda and Crystal. Amanda turned to her and said that she was thirsty. She ran into the restroom and tried to drink some water from the sink out of her hands, but she could not swallow. "She kept telling me that she couldn't breathe. I was just confused and could tell that something was wrong with her," said Erin. She went to the chaperons' table and told substitue teacher Patricia Westbroke what was happening. "Amanda was sitting against the wall in a chair and she was shaking and having trouble breathing. She kept needing to throw up, but she couldn't. I started asking her if she had anything to drink or used anything as far as drugs and when she assured us that she did not, I thought she got a little overheated," said Mrs. Westbroke. One of the girls went to get Nick and he hugged Amanda. "She could barely breathe and was gasping for air. Her face started to turn blue," said Nick. The principal escorted him out of the restroom and told him to take her home, but he thought she was really sick and told the principal that he would take her to the hospital. Amanda was very limp and her face started turning purple. Crystal and Mrs. Westbroke walked her out and put her into Nick's car. "I didn't know what was wrong with her," said Crystal. Nick drove her to Baptist Memorial Hospital East as quickly as he could and talked to her to keep her awake. "She was gasping for air. I've had asthma before and I know what it's like not being able to breathe. I just knew it was serious," said Nick. He rolled down the windows to keep her awake. Nick called Amanda's parents on his car phone, told them that something was wrong, and to come to the hospital immediately. "I was petrified. I was afraid of what I would find when they got there. I didn't know if she was still alive," said Paula. They opened the car door, saw that Amanda wasn't breathing, and walked her into the emergency room. "She could not hold her head up. She was so cold," said Paula. Nick worried while the nurse and Amanda's parents put her in a wheelchair and rushed her into the emergency room. "It was just like saying 'Don't Take the Girl' because I was afraid that something would happen to her," said Nick. At the hospital, Amanda was put under the care of emergency physician Dr. Tom Assatra. "Amanda was exhibiting all the signs and symptoms of a severe allergic reaction," said Dr. Assatra. They immediately gave her a shot and asked her parents to leave the room. "I did not want to leave her," said Paula. Crystal and Erin came for support. "We just were scared. And we talked about how happy Amanda had been and how she just had to be okay," said Crystal. Dr. Assatra told Amanda to keep breathing. "It was very fortunate that her boyfriend brought her into the emergency room department. Without medical treatment, a severe allergic reaction can be fatal," said Dr. Assatra. Amanda finally got to see her parents when she was sedated. "It scares me a lot. Thank God that Nick knew what to do," said Amanda. Nick came to visit her in the hospital the next day and brought a tape recorder for her to listen to "Don't Take the Girl". "It just made me cry because it made realized how much he cared for me," said Amanda. Tests confirmed that Amanda had suffered a severe allergic reaction to shrimp she ate for dinner before the prom. She now carries an epipen in case of another one. Category:1994 Category:Tennessee Category:Anaphylactic Shock